章 1: The Lost Kingdom

"Once upon a time, in a magical realm, where magical beings thrived and lived in harmony. There was balance in the land of the fairies, elves, sorcerers, merfolks and humans. All seemed to go well and fine, it was peaceful."

"Whoa, tell me more," said the eager girl.

"Hold your horses child. Then, the sorcerers wanted an alliance and sought out the hand of the fairy princess in marriage. They would offer protection, and the fairies would, in turn, help their lands cultivate as their fields were drying out."

She paused a bit to watch the little girl's expression, then continued.

"The fairies in their kind heart agreed, thus forming a strong alliance. Out of that union, a child was born. A princess, one having both powers of a fairy and that of a sorcerer. Then something terrible happened... "

"The human king sought to start a war. He said 'If we leave these magical beings, one day they will rise against us and kill us, we must attack first and wipe them out, they are getting stronger and making alliances', but his trusted adviser couldn't agree with him".

"He advised the king, "Oh king long may you live, but we are not strong against the magical beings. They have powers." But the king had a plan, he was going to do something tricky."

"He is a bad man," said the little girl. Her small hands both clenched at her sides as they hit the bed in anger. The lady chuckled at her behaviour before continuing.

"Yes he was, and so years later their power grew, feeling threatened, the king kidnapped the Elven Prince and had him killed."

"Then, he had the dead body dropped in the border of the sorcerers' land. Filled with anger in their hearts, the Elves attacked the sorcerers, but the fairies gave their help," the lady explained.

"But they didn't do it, it was the bad king who attacked," the little girl said folding her arms.

"Yes, but they didn't know. The war went on for years, the land of the sorcerers was terrible, so they couldn't grow crops. But they had the fairies help, and so, the fight continued with the human king being happy. This way they would destroy themselves without his intervention."

"Bad, that's just bad," the little girl shouted cutting the lady short.

"If you keep cutting me short I won't tell the story again," the lady threatened her.

"Please don't stop, I'll keep shut."

"Better. By now, the fairy princess and the sorcerer prince had taken the reins of power. One day the halfbreed princess, went adventuring against her mother's warning, and she got attacked by the Elves."

"Oh no, she shouldn't have disobeyed."

"Astrid!" The lady stopped talking and arched a brow at her.

"I'm sorry, I got so... " the little girl tried to explain but the lady cut her short.

"It's useless telling you to keep shut, I'll just continue," she beamed a smile at the little girl while poking at her sides. Astrid giggled on the bed and started rolling in laughter, as the lady tickled her.

"Stop it! Hehehe... you still have to finish your story," she said in between laughs.

"Alright, alright!" She lifted her hands in surrender and continued her story.

"Meanwhile, the merfolks and the humans stayed out of the war. The princess barely escaped the attack and was severely injured. She walked near the water, separating them from the merfolks and collapsed."

She heaved a sigh, her eyes closed a fraction like she recalled something. After some seconds, she continued.

"She was later saved by the Mer prince who didn't know her identity but saw her badly injured and helped her. He hid her and nursed her every day until she was better. Every day he would come to land, taking a human form and take care of her."

"Mesmerized by her beauty, the Mer prince started loving her, and gradually the princess also started falling in love with him. She returned home when her injuries healed, but would always go to meet the Mer prince. They did this for some months, until one day, she was attacked by the elves again. This time, he was with her."

"Yay, he'll come to her rescue," the little girl said happily. She imagined a knight in shining armour, fighting to save his damsel in distress. Her lips curved up into a wide grin at the thought, but her hopes were dashed to pieces, by the lady's next words.

"Not exactly, he couldn't use his powers in his human form, and so he got killed. In despair and anger, she killed all the elves that attacked them, letting her powers exploded out of her."

The little girl had a sullen look, at the realization that her imagination was wrong.

"She cried her heart out as she mourned her beloved. Unknown to her, a mermaid saw the dead prince in her arms, and rushed to inform the Mer queen, telling her that, a fairy, had killed the prince."

"When they arrived, she was about burying the prince. Seeing that, the queen left no room for explanation, and they attacked. With no choice left, she had to fight back. It didn't take long, she was being overpowered, but luckily, the fairies, along with her mother, came to her rescue."

"They had been looking for her in the palace, when her power surged out of her, notifying them that something had gone wrong. They rushed to the scene, only to find the princess, fighting for her life and joined in."

"The fairy queen was killed by the Mer queen when she was distracted protecting her daughter." the lady paused when she saw the interest on the little girl's face.

"The fairies fought hard, and by now a flare had been lit, signalling for help. Soon a group of sorcerers came and joined the battle, then the merpeople retreated into the water."

In her head, she saw the mermaids attacking the fairies, and the sorcerers using their magic to attack. Then the mermaids, frightened, ran away, diving deep into the water.

"Good, runaway!" She said in her head. Her bright eyes shone with determination, making her cute.

"But at the end of it all, the fairy queen was dead and the princess fell into despair, for she had lost her lover and her mother on the same day. Unknown to her, she, the halfbreed princess, was pregnant for the Mer prince," the lady took a deep breath and stared lovingly at the little girl.

"I didn't talk, why did you stop?"

"I will continue, I just loved your attentiveness. Months later, the princess was due for delivery, and the news got to the human king and other magical beings."

"The elves and the Mer folks feared the unborn child, as well as the human king because his plans would be ruined. Everyone thought, whoever could get their hands on a hybrid like that would own the power to control the war and rule over the magical realm."

"Poor princess."

"I thought you wouldn't comment again," she said poking the little girl playfully.

"I couldn't help it, aunt."

"Hmm, on the day of her delivery, her kingdom was attacked. The human king came prepared with so many armies and weapons, the elves wouldn't miss a chance to ruin the sorcerers and the merpeople still held the grudge."

"It was terrible for the princess, as she gave her newborn daughter to her most trusted maid, and had her flee the kingdom while she tried saving her people."

"Meanwhile, as they fought, she noticed they were losing, she used her powers to disperse them out of her kingdom, throwing them all far away, and made her kingdom disappear."

"What tremendous power," she gasped in awe.

"When their troops attacked again, she used her last bit of energy. Letting her power surge out and explode everywhere, throwing her and her opponents, away. And so, the princess, I mean queen, was lost, alongside the maid and the hybrid princess."

"Till this day, no one knows where the queen, princess and the kingdom, home to the fairies, and sorcerers are. Legend has it that, where the sun meets the hill at the east, there the lost kingdom of Fortland is. The End."

"Whoaaa, epic aunt."

"I'm glad you like it, Astrid."

"Of course, who wouldn't, so no clue about the princess and the queen?"

"None whatsoever."

"She can't be lost forever!" The young girl protested.

"Oh little one, its time to sleep."

"But Aunt... " she started to say but was stopped by the lady.

"No! Goodnight Astrid," she said, tucking her in.

"Goodnight aunt."

The lady leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. "Sweet dreams baby." She put off the lamp by her bed and left the room.

As she lay quietly on her bed, with her eyes closing, she imagined a small glowing baby with fins and wings. "There you go, be safe!" She mentally patted the baby, as she slowly drifted off to sleep.